Phosphatidylinositol pathway-associated genes adjust the rice growth and stress signaling: A global assay of the 5PTase family in the Oryza sativa genome

Abstract

Phosphoinositides, comprising a fraction of membrane lipids, are momentous molecules regulating plant growth/development and stress signals transduction. The inositol polyphosphate 5-phosphatases (5PTases) are discussed as the critical components of the phosphatidylinositol metabolic pathway. Although the Oryza sativa genome is well sequenced, the characteristics of some stress-related genes, such as 5PTases, remained obscure in this species. In the current study, the 20 Os5PTase genes were distinguished from the rice genome, which clustered in the seven major clades. Gene duplication events suggested a critical role in the rice Os5PTase family development. Synteny analysis among the rice and candidate species 5PTases detected high orthologous pairs in rice-maize and rice-Brachypodium distachion; and the Ka/Ks analysis of 5PTase genes in these species revealed that these syntenic regions had been organized after these crops divergence. The gene ontology analysis and promoter cis-elements illustrated that most of the Os5PTases are involved in multiple biological processes, including stimuli response, root development, xylem and phloem pattern formation and anatomical structure morphogenesis. In silico expression assay of the Os5PTase genes in various tissues/developmental stages illustrated that seven genes were highly expressed in most of the tissues, suggesting their critical roles in rice development. Also, the qReal-Time PCR-based gene expression assay under multiple abiotic stresses indicated the induced expression of the Os5PTase members by one or more stimulus treatments. Our findings can be beneficial for further characterization of the suitable candidate 5PTases and their biological functions assay, as well as may recognize the promising new genetic resources for crop breeding.